A terrific idea brought to beautifully intimate colour, exploring an extraordinary time in all our lives through the power of the GAA community. An absolute triumph. * Vincent Hogan, sports reporter, Irish Independent * A brilliant read. The stories in this book are a catalogue of resilience and the capacity of people to find ways to make the best of everything. Damian Lawlor uses his unparalleled network of connections across the GAA to document its Covid experience from new and fascinating perspectives. From extraordinary acts of kindness and decency to the pain of loss, this book tells vivid tales of how GAA members lived through a brutal pandemic. * Paul Rouse, Professor of History, UCD * Through compelling stories and varied perspectives, Lawlor uses his in-depth knowledge of the GAA at all levels to make real the impact of the pandemic on people, families and communities. He captures the human scale of its challenge and the impressive response of players, members, volunteers, clubs and the GAA leadership. The result is a rich, valuable and uniquely Irish account of this global health emergency. * Dr Tony Holohan, Former Chief Medical Officer of Ireland * Upon reading it, After the Storm has arrived at just the right remove from covid and how surreal those times were and how the GAA and its people survived and even thrived in them. We'd heard before of David Brady volunteering to call and talk to isolated strangers on the phone but not what they talked about - now we do. And never before of Marianne Walsh who spent her cancer recovery during the lockdown and within five months was back winning a county. Her story typifies this book: from the gloom there is gold. * Irish Examiner *
